Colts' Sanders could miss weeks with ankle injury

This Jan. 13, 2008 file photo shows Indianapolis Colts All-Pro safety Bob Sanders after a game against the San Diego Chargers in Indianapolis. Sanders could miss four to six weeks with a high ankle sprain sustained during the Indianapolis Colts' win last Sunday over Minnesota. Team president Bill Polian said during a taping of his weekly TV show Tuesday night Sept. 16, 2008 that the league's defensive player of the year could also have arthroscopic "cleanup" surgery on one of his knees while he's recovering from the ankle injury. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy, File)
— AP

This Jan. 13, 2008 file photo shows Indianapolis Colts All-Pro safety Bob Sanders after a game against the San Diego Chargers in Indianapolis. Sanders could miss four to six weeks with a high ankle sprain sustained during the Indianapolis Colts' win last Sunday over Minnesota. Team president Bill Polian said during a taping of his weekly TV show Tuesday night Sept. 16, 2008 that the league's defensive player of the year could also have arthroscopic "cleanup" surgery on one of his knees while he's recovering from the ankle injury. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy, File)
/ AP

Tony Dungy doesn't doubt Bob Sanders will be back in the Colts lineup this season. He's just not sure how long Sanders will be out.

The 2007 defensive player of the year could miss up to six weeks after spraining his right ankle last weekend at Minnesota, and team officials are contemplating whether Sanders may need arthroscopic surgery on his knee, too.

"It's kind of similar to (receiver) Roy Hall's injury," Dungy said. "He had his knee scoped, too, so he's going to be out a while longer. If it's going to be two or three weeks, then it makes sense to get it scoped. But (defensive tackle) Keyunta Dawson had the same kind of thing and he told me he was going to practice today, so we're not really sure."

Apparently, those plans changed, too. Dawson did not practice Wednesday.

Team president Bill Polian was more definitive Tuesday night while taping a segment for his Saturday night television show on WISH-TV. Polian said Sanders would miss four to six weeks.

Dungy has been wary of establishing ironclad timetables since he told reporters that tight end Dallas Clark was expected to go on injured reserve after tearing his ACL during the 2006 season. Two days later, the prognosis changed and while Clark missed four games, he played in the season finale and had a prominent role in the Colts' Super Bowl run.

The latest injury continues a strange even-numbered-year hex for Sanders, who played in just six games during his rookie season in 2004 and four games in 2006. In odd-numbered years, Sanders has started 14 and 15 games, respectively.

Dungy wasn't even sure how Sanders was hurt at Minnesota. He left during the fourth quarter and hasn't been available to reporters since then.

"I'm still learning the extent of it myself," Dungy said. "I guess, whether it was the 'dreaded high ankle sprain,' I guess I found that out Monday night."

Losing one of the NFL's hardest hitters will certainly impact the Colts' struggling run defense.

Indy has already allowed Chicago rookie Matt Forte and Minnesota Pro Bowler Adrian Peterson to each rush for more than 100 yards, and the Colts rank 28th in the league against the run.

The likely replacement is second-year safety Melvin Bullitt, who made the team last year as an undrafted free agent. Bullitt finished with two tackles Sunday, but has often practiced with the starters, particularly on Thursdays hold Sanders out.

"I feel like I'm prepared," Bullitt said. "It's always hard to replace a player like Bob, who was the defensive player of the year and, in my opinion, is the best safety in the league."

Sanders' injury is the latest setback for a team that has been ravaged by injuries all season.

Former league sacks champion Dwight Freeney missed all of training camp after sustaining a season-ending foot injury, which required surgery last November. Sanders, too, sat out training camp after having offseason shoulder surgery for the second straight year.

Then in July, two more starters were hurt. Two-time league MVP Peyton Manning had surgery to remove an infected bursa sac from his left knee, which kept him sidelined six weeks. Linebacker Tyjuan Hagler tore a pectoral muscle while lifting weights. Hagler is still on the physically unable to perform list.